TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –
The Florida State University men’s basketball team, which has won at least 20 games in both of the last two seasons, will play in the inaugural Glenn Wilkes Classic – an eight team tournament in which the Seminoles will play host to one game at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee and play three more games in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Seminoles will play host to Georgia Southern in the first round and travel to Daytona Beach to play UAB (Nov. 16), Cleveland State (Nov. 17) and USF (Nov. 18) in the eight-team event. Four schools (Florida State, Rhode Island, Alabama Birmingham and USF) will play host to first round games with dates and times for those games to be determined to the host schools. Following the first round games at the home sites, the four traveling teams (Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic, Stetson and Cleveland State) will join the four hosts in Daytona Beach for three days of basketball with four games on each day at the 8,000 seat Ocean Center. The classic falls under the NCAA’s Multiple Team Event Format which allows teams to play multiple games with all four counting as only one date on each team’s maximum 28-date schedule of games.

Florida State’s participation in the Glenn Wilkes Classic marks the third time in the last five seasons the Seminoles have participated in an exempt event. The Seminoles played in the University of Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic in 2004, the Corpus Christi Caller Times Challenge in 2005 and the Colonial Classic in 2007. The Seminoles finished with a 3-1 record and played in the championship game of both the Holiday Hoops Classic in 2004 and the Colonial Classic in 2007.

The event is named after longtime Stetson University head coach Glenn Wilkes. Wilkes, respectfully known as the Godfather of Florida basketball, coached for 36 seasons at Stetson and ranks 41st all-time on the NCAA Division I coaching victories list. Wilkes won 552 games at Stetson and posted 27 winning seasons during his tenure. An author of five basketball-related books, Wilkes is still actively involved in the game of basketball. In 1958 he founded the Glenn Wilkes Basketball School, the south’s first and most popular basketball school. Wilkes is currently the director of the Shooting Stars Basketball Camp, Assistant Director of the Michael Jordan Basketball Camp, Michael Jordan Fantasy Camp and LeBron James Basketball Camp, while being heavily involved in various Nike basketball camps. Wilkes has been honored extensively for his accomplishments and is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Stetson and Mercer University Hall’s of Fame and the Nike Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Florida State’s game against Georgia Southern in the first round of the Glenn Wilkes Classic marks the first time the Seminoles will play the Eagles since the 1998 season when Florida State earned an 80-43 victory in Tallahassee. The Seminoles lead the overall series (which dates back to the 1962 season) by a 14-4 margin. The Seminoles have won seven consecutive games in the series between the two teams.

The Seminoles’ game against UAB marks the first time since 1980 the Seminoles and Blazers will meet in the sport of basketball; its game against Cleveland State will be the Seminoles’ first game against the Vikings since 2001 and its game against USF marks the first time since 2002 that the Seminoles and Bulls will play each other.

Ticket and television information will be announced at a later date.

2007 Glenn Wilkes Classic Schedule
First Round Games (Dates and Times TBA)
Georgia Southern at Florida State
Cleveland State at South Florida
Stetson at UAB
Florida Atlantic at Rhode Island